


Sir Merlin, Knight of Camelot

by perish_the_thoughtless



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Bromance, Can I list Arthur's ego as a character?, Episode Tag, Episode: s04e05 His Father's Son, Fluff and Humor, Gen, I tried to be funny, Knight!Merlin, Merlin and Arthur are best friends but they won't admit it, Merlin as a knight, Merlin is a Little Shit, Merlin is like the Knights' annoying little brother and no one can change my mind, Merlin mocks Arthur, Missing Scene, Season 4 is the golden age as far as I'm concerned, Why is tagging so stressful and yet so addictive, the knights - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-12
Updated: 2020-05-12
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:27:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24139606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/perish_the_thoughtless/pseuds/perish_the_thoughtless
Summary: Episode tag to 4x05- His Father's Son. An exploration of how that intriguing episode intro of Merlin dressed as a knight could have happened.Or- Arthur makes Merlin dress up as a knight to use him as bait, the knights find the whole situation much too amusing, and Arthur realizes maybe Merlin wouldn't make such a bad knight after all.
Relationships: Gwaine & Merlin (Merlin), Merlin & Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Comments: 14
Kudos: 290





	Sir Merlin, Knight of Camelot

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! I've recently been rewatching Merlin, gotten obsessed with it all over again, and started reading lots and lots of Merlin fanfiction. I was surprised though that I couldn't find any fics about 4x05's episode intro. I got inspired, and then this happened... I could NOT get Merlin dressed as a knight out of my head- there's just something about it that I love. so. much. I'm pretty sure it was definitely Arthur's idea. I felt cheated though that we didn't get to see just how that happened, so I wrote this in a moment of rare motivation.   
> I hope you enjoy!

“Arthur, do you remember all those times I told you I had a bad feeling about something?”

“Mm-hm,” Arthur replied distractedly. 

“And then you tell me to stop being such a girl, and then something bad happens anyway, and then you don’t even let me say ‘I told you so?’”

“What’s your point, Merlin?”

“I have a bad feeling about this.”

Arthur sighed, amused despite himself. “You have a bad feeling about everything, Merlin. We’re still alive, aren’t we?”

“Only because I keep saving you in spite of your best efforts to get us both killed!”

“Merlin. Don’t be such a girl. All you have to do is run, and you’ve certainly had enough practice running away from fights,” Arthur chuckled, and the knights laughed good-naturedly along with him. 

Merlin looked up at Arthur, curiosity and a bit of accusation in his glance. “Why do I feel like you’ve been waiting a long time to use this idea?” 

“No idea. I only just thought of it.”

“Sure, you did,” Merlin mumbled under his breath. 

“What was that?”

“I said, ‘the shirt is big.’”

“Well, it’ll have to do. You’ll just have to run fast, Merlin,” Arthur joked. “If they look too closely, they’ll realize your not a real knight and they’ll start to think it’s a trap.”

“Don’t worry, Merlin,” Gwaine said, patting Merlin on the shoulder. “All you have to do is lead them here, and we’ll take care of the rest.”

“Why do I feel like you lot have got the easy bit?” Merlin complained. He wasn’t actually reluctant to do this, and Arthur knew it too (at least he hoped he did), but he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t nervous. Bantering with Arthur settled his nerves though, as odd as that might seem. Besides, he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t enjoying dressing up as a Knight of Camelot. It fulfilled a childish fantasy he hadn’t even known he had. 

"Would you rather fight the Saxons that outnumber us three to one?” Arthur retorted. Then, “You’re still okay with doing this aren’t you, Merlin?”

“Of course,” Merlin replied easily. “You said it yourself, we need to catch them by surprise if we’re going to win this, and doing it on our own terms gives us an advantage, especially if you approach them from the higher ground.” 

Arthur almost looked impressed. “So you do listen to me. Then stop complaining, won’t you?”

Merlin grinned mischievously. “But Arthur, I don’t even have a sword.”

“Then you’d better not let them catch you then, Merlin,” Arthur replied, adjusting the chainmail over Merlin’s shoulders. “Besides, we don’t have a spare, and we need our swords if we’re going to save your backside. It would probably just slow you down anyway,” Arthur finished, looking at the loose-fitting armor as though he wasn’t much impressed by what he saw. 

“I’m stronger than I look,” Merlin protested, sighing as Gwaine joined Arthur’s efforts (a little too enthusiastically).

“Then you should be fine,” Arthur responded with a grin, clapping Merlin on the shoulder. 

“Your cape, Sir Merlin,” Elyan said as he approached, smiling in the same way all the knights were- like little girls playing dress-up. They all seemed to be enjoying it way too much for Merlin’s taste. 

“Sir Merlin, that has a nice ring to it,” Leon commented, watching the whole interaction from the sidelines with a wicked grin. 

“There,” Gwaine said proudly as he finished fastening the cape. He gripped Merlin by the shoulders and held him at arm’s length, surveying his masterpiece. “Looking good, mate,” Gwaine added. Merlin couldn’t be sure if his words held any sarcasm.

“Hm,” Arthur said discerningly.

“You make a good knight, Merlin,” Percival added, apparently sincere. Good old Percival. 

“Well I think he looks ridiculous,” said Arthur, grinning as Merlin gave him an exasperated look. Merlin then straightened and stuck his chest out, doing his best impression of Arthur in a mocking voice that sounded a little too close to a braying donkey. It wasn’t often he got to dress up like Arthur after all.

“Well I think he looks ridiculous,” Merlin parroted back, grinning as the knights erupted in hysterics. Arthur gaped at him. 

“I sound nothing like that!”

“I sound nothing like that!” Merlin repeated. Sir Gwaine was rolling on the ground in a very undignified manner, holding his stomach as his shoulders silently shook.

“Sorry princess, but that’s spot on,” Gwaine said between breaths, using Percival to help him to his feet.

“Merlin! You will not mock your king!” Arthur warned, taking a threatening step towards his servant. Merlin held up his hands in surrender, still laughing a bit to himself.

“Okay, okay, I’ll stop,” he said with a sheepish grin. 

“Never again,” Arthur growled, pointing a finger at Merlin, who couldn’t seem to stop smiling, even if it was his own life on the line. 

“Cross my heart,” Merlin replied, trying to look innocent. Arthur scoffed and sent a warning glare to his knights as well, who were still recovering from their fit of laughter. 

“Well go on then,” Arthur urged, giving Merlin a small shove. “We’ll be waiting on the ridge.”

“You’d better be,” Merlin told him with a grin, already walking off and trying to grow accustomed to the new weight the chainmail added to each step. 

“And Merlin?”

Merlin turned briefly. “Yes, Arthur?”

“Be careful,” Arthur replied, his words as much of a warning as an encouragement. 

“Aren’t I always?” Merlin asked in return with a grin, turning to go walk right into danger.   
**************************************************************************************************************

“Hold,” Arthur said quietly to his men, watching hidden as Merlin tripped and fell, narrowly avoiding an ax. The Saxons had yet to all fill the area, he needed a second longer. He looked on as Merlin picked up the ax, holding it up in a defensive stance as if he would actually fight the whole group himself. A look of determination fell over his face. If Arthur didn’t know any better, he would say Merlin looked just like any of his knights. 

“Trapped, are we?” The Saxon leader taunted, a feral smile spreading across his face. 

“Now!” Arthur ordered. Leon released a bolt from his crossbow, wounding one of the Saxons as the man let out a half-scream. Arthur had just enough time to see Merlin’s grin and his response before jumping off the ridge and into the fight.

“That’s the idea.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Please leave kudos/comments, constructive criticism is always welcome too!  
> Also, if anyone knows of some good Merlin fics with tags to this episode please leave them in the comments! Who knows, maybe they're out there and I just suck at using A03's search settings. :)


End file.
